Farwell is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in Clare County in the U.S. state of

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. The population was 880 at the 2020 census. The village is located within Surrey Township about west of the city of Clare.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , of which is land and (2.84) is water. The south branch of the Tobacco River flows through the village and contains the Mill Pond reservoir.

Major highways

* runs west–east through the center of the village.

History

Farwell was founded in 1870 by Edmund Hall, John Van Riper, and George Hitchcock. The Farwell post office opened on January 20, 1871, with George Hitchcock serving as the first postmaster. It was informally

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

ted in 1871 and officially platted the following year by Josiah Littlefield of Ann Arbor. The Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad had plans of expanding into the area on a new route connecting Saginaw to Ludington, which was completed by the end of the decade. The new community was named after New York native Samuel Farwell, who had an interest in the railroad and was a construction contractor. In 1871, Farwell became the first county seat of Clare County but lost the seat of government to Harrison in 1879 after the Farwell courthouse burned down two years earlier. Farwell incorporated as a village in 1879. In 1982, the Rock Road massacre occurred to the west of Farwell in Garfield Township. Due to its proximity to the village, it became known as the "Farwell Murders" and brought national attention to the area.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 871 people, 373 households, and 229 families residing in the village. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 411 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 97.8%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.6%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.7% Native American, 0.1% Asian, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.1% from other races, and 0.6% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.8% of the population. There were 373 households, of which 28.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.3% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 15.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 38.6% were non-families. 33.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.85. The median age in the village was 40.4 years. 22% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.8% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 23.6% were from 25 to 44; 27.2% were from 45 to 64; and 18.4% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 48.2% male and 51.8% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 855 people, 369 households, and 214 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 404 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 97.08%

, 0.58%

, 1.52% Native American, 0.12% Asian, and 0.70% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.35% of the population. There were 369 households out of which 27.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.2% were

living together, 13.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.0% were non-families. 34.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.94. In the village the population was spread out with 24.6% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 17.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 83.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.3 males. The median income for a household in the village was $24,583, and the median income for a family was $32,917. Males had a median income of $29,063 versus $20,329 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the village was $19,870. About 7.2% of families and 13.3% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 13.5% of those under age 18 and 9.9% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Farwell is served by its own school district, Farwell Area Schools, which is centralized in the village and also serves several adjacent townships in both Clare and Isabella County.

Images

File:Farwell, MI post office.jpg, File:Farwell, MI village office.jpg, File:Ladies' Library Association of Farwell 2022.jpg, File:Farwell-Surrey Township library, Michigan.jpg,

References

{{authority control Villages in Michigan Villages in Clare County, Michigan 1870 establishments in Michigan Populated places established in 1870 Former county seats in Michigan